An innocent question from a friend at least passes some initial muster.

Moncada’s gangbusters .277/.355/.527 start to the season, in which he’s launched 15 extra-base hits in 27 games, after hitting 18 in 54 games during his debut last year, has featured a dedication to the air.

His 38.1 percent fly ball rate is far from enormous, but it’s the highest of his career, and way up from the 27.9 percent he lifted in his dominant 2016 season in Double-A that helped sell the Sox on his talent. More noticeably, his 33.3 percent ground ball rate is a revelation, given he had been solidly above 40 percent the entire time he was in the Red Sox organization, and way down from the 45.6 percent ground ball rate he had during his White Sox debut in 2017.

More to the point, he fits the profile as a candidate. He’s athletic enough to handle that sort of adjustment. He’s always...

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